So i read a story that i found on Anecdotage.com where there was this play that involved bringing a real horse onto stage. Well the characters had no problem with that but the horse was a bit nervous and displayed it in a stinky manner. While the play still has to go on there was bound to be some problems. During a fight scene located right in front of the horse one of the characters stabbed another character and the stabbed person was suppose to fall but didn't. So the stabber trying to stay in character stabs again and tells the stabbed to fall the stabbed refuses with a line that goes like this " I will fall if you find me a clean place to fall".

I looked on Yahoo Answers and read real life experiences from people. I picked one on a funny theater rehearsal. A high school was working on their school's musical. The main character of the musical was center stage, starting his solo, when the stage collapsed from under him. After all that, the guy stayed in character and kept singing his song, he though he was no longer on stage, but IN the stage.

Another story was how a man forgot his lines during a play, and decided to make up his own lines. The other people on stage were confused because what he said didn't make since at all, but the audience couldn't tell the difference.

Monday, September 27, 2010

The upcoming Presidential election may be two years away, but it is already creating a great deal of excitement in the news arena.

Nick Wing of The Huffington Post shares that likely Republican candidates have appeared frequently on Fox News. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and John Bolton have all appeared at least 36 times.

Sarah Palin gets another mention in a Slate article by journalist John Dickerson where he speculates her ability to effectively execute a successful campaign in 2012.

And Palin takes up arms against a political foe in an Archie comic, says Patrick Gavin of Politico, gathered in the Drudge Report. In that article, a quote given by Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater states that Palin "represent[s] the Republican Party right now." The comic features Sarah Palin facing off against our current President in a traditional "superhero" comic-cliche.

All of these pieces observe politics in a different way and each provides a valuable insight into each author's feelings on the current political situation.

Political columnist Marcus Wohlsen of The Drudge Report talks about California's Proposition 19 which basically deals with the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana. I like the style and the information is very educational it gives you a more people point of view on the issue and lots of detail into the whole ordeal.

Political columnist Byron Williams of The Huffington Report speaks on the issue of passing Proposition 23 the would take California back to a time when Reagan was president and it will be proposed by people who dont even live in California. Although i dont really like the piece it doesnt really speak to me cause i cant understand what its saying but i guess it could be for someone else.

Political columnist David Greenberg of the Slate basically gives a tribute to the Kennedy- Nixon debates and talks on how the debate favored Kennedy. This piece was really long but it was in terms i could understand and it was well organized i liked this one it was just a bit lengthy.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Robert Greenwall: "No More Crooks in Congress, Investigate Candidate O'Donnell. This particular blog talks about how O'Donnell has been used up to $20,000 in campaign funds on paying her rent, bowling, and buying personal meals. There was a petition at the end of the blog for viewers to be a part of.

In the Slate, I read was about how Leonard Downie described Arianna Huffington & staff (of the Huffington Post) as "primarily parasites living off journalism produced by others." Arianna responed to this by stating that her journalist have posted 300 original blogs daily. I really thought this blog was interesting.

I wasn't really interested in the Drudge Report, I couldn't understand why the topics were just posted in a unorganized manner. I did find one article that I actually read which was one about the Queen wanting to use the state poverty fund to heat Buckingham Palace.
Courtney

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Vargas, Dowd, and Hiaasen -- Not a law firm, not an ice cream company. Who are they? What do they have in common?

These three writers are columnists. More specifically, columnists who write for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Miami Herald, respectively.

Their writing styles are each unique to one another and the topics covered range from the C.E.O. of Facebook to Floriday's Republican primary. What unites them is that they are all motivated by the tides of politics.

Jose Antonio Vargas opens with a story on Mark Zuckerberg, the C.E.O. of Facebook. How is this political? Zuckerberg has established himself as a big player in the worlwide web arena. His influence has risen with frightening speed. Imagine if he were to run for President!

Maureen Dowd follows with her column on Christine O'Donnell where she is compared to former President Jimmy Carter, whose popularity took a severe hit when he admitted to committing adultery in his heart.

Bringing up the rear is Carl Hiaasen who, with snappy language and short paragraphs, shares his feelings on the recent Republican primary in Florida.

The three articles are all distinguishable from one another and are clearly written for specific audiences. Issues like Facebook and Christine O'Donnell attract more national (or, in the case of Zuckerberg, international) attention than the election in Florida.

In the New York times there was a non-biased article about both democratic and republican nominations for president back in 2007. It showed that the paper had no preference one way or the other or that weren't going to pick and choose and just stay neutral.
In the L.A. Times the article talked the radical republican Christine O' Donnell running for Senate in Delaware. It also discussed Sharon Angle and how she wanted to abolish social security and medicare. Therefore my conclusion here is that the paper is bashing radical republicans (yay) and reveling them for who they really are.
Finally in the Wall Street Journal i read and column on how Ohio is being a swing state in mid-term elections for senators. I don't really know what that means and well the column was kind of boring but i guess you need one or two of those sometimes.

Anyway sorry the post is so late i was meant to post right at 8 but i went to view it and didnt realize i hadnt posted yet oops sorry again night .....
Young

I read online articles from The Chicago Tribune, New York Times, ans L.A. Times. All of the political columns caught my attention. In the Chicago Tribune and the L.A. Times there was some statistics used. Chicago Tribune also had quotes from political leaders. The column I read from New York Times was rather lengthy, while the column from the L.A. Times was shorter. The styles of each of the columns were not that different.
Courtney

Thursday, September 16, 2010

So i am working at the Grocery store last night and there's so much humor there you would not believe it.This woman comes in and is so rude like you couldn't imagine she just wanted everything her way and unfortunately well i don't work at Burger King. So usually i wish something slightly humors on people who piss me off bu this time i just said to myself "God deal with this lady"and some how by the power vested in me this woman took one terrible fall. I almost laughed my entire face off, i mean she didn't fall on anything or slip because of water she just got embarrassed for acting the way she did, and for the rest of the night making minimum wage was just enough for being able to enjoy that one moment of pure happiness on my part.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

I was recently traveling on Riverside Drive and was stopped in traffic at a red light. A driver to my left caught my eye as, to my surprise, performed an illegal u-turn across the median (which, in this case, was something of a ditch). The manuever was successful, but I found it to be shocking and slightly humorous.

I am playing volleyball intramural and our first game was yesterday around 7pm. Well my team was a little nervous so I was encouraging them telling them, "What's the worst that could happen?" A little while into the game, I attempted to hit the ball but missed and it hit me right in the face. Luckily, not many people showed up to watch us play. lol

Monday, September 13, 2010

Most people believe that looks skip a generation. Yes, they perceive a person's level of attractiveness to be a direct result of their lineage, not of their parents, but their grandparents.

This idea has not been scientifically proven and in no way has any grounding in reality. There is nothing that states a person's features have any more to do with their extended family than their parents. Genes are passed through generations--each generation. They don't merely skip around arbitrarily.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Most people believe that water flows in opposite directions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres because of the Corious Effect (the deflection of moving objects based on the rotation of Earth) I researched and actually the direction of water depends upon the plumbing. I find this to be very funny. Courtney

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Not sure if the title makes sense..but I'm referencing mimes that pretend they are trapped inside of an invisible box.

In my daily life, my mind is usually processing things rapidly. I often have ideas or remember things I need to take care of, but I forget them before they can come to fruition. I started jotting things down on pieces of paper and putting them in my pockets. At the end of the day, I would empty my pockets and have a great deal of these scraps to sort through. In thinking outside of the box, I devised a method of organizing all of these scraps. It's called "Scraps of Organization." I transfer the information on the scraps to 4 x 6 inch note cards that I bind together with a clip.

There could be an editorial in which the author shares unique organizational tips for college students.

So i wish instead of critical thinking i could just plainly say i thought outside my room or something but somehow i feel that is cheating. Instead i thought some more and some more.

This is what i came up with everyday at Averett i am learning new things sometimes its hard to keep track of them because of my inability to focus on things that dont seem interresting. THEREFORE in thinking outside the Box i devised a plan that would solve everything. I think colleges should use a poll and start questioning people on how they process either through the hands on learning or a more focused teach and read process. Once they have all the percentages start dividing staff into more hands on learning teachers and the others and then give the students a choice between which way they chose to learn.

This could be transfered to an opinion piece on how people learn and does this way of learning result in a better outcome for the person or rather do they learn more or less. Anyway just thinking out side the box.
Sierra

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

While driving to Wal-mart with some friends, It came to my attention that Danville officials have made the decision to build another bridge on Riverside Drive, at the site of the old Robertson Bridge. I'm not a tree hugger but I'm pretty big on saving the environment. It really got to me that a lot of trees around the site were being cut down.

There could be an editorial that focuses on how construction sites can be hazardous to plant life and animal life and how the community can get involved in protecting natural sites.

Yesterday morning, while on the Riverwalk, I came across a young otter that was running around on the banks of the river. Two other walkers and I watched the little guy for nearly five minutes.

How this may fit into an opinion piece: Each morning I see more and more life on the river. This could result in an editorial on keeping the river clean for the abundance of wildlife there. This could also prompt a piece on how people should use the Riverwalk more and get outside to look at the natural world around them. This could also result in a daily blog, which I have already done. DEH

Monday, September 6, 2010

Last Thursday, Dr. Hoffman shared several editorial cartoons with our class. The one most striking to me discussed the confusion surrounding the War on Terrorism. Specifically, it observed that our accomplishments there are not clearly defined. Mike Keefe of the Denver Post clearly feels that the war has been a waste of time and that no one can truly say what positive results the war has produced. I enjoyed the image and found that it successfully expressed the feelings of many American citizens at the time of its publication.

We looked at some editorial cartoons last Thursday in class some of them were really funny some of them just had no relevance to me, but some were just so ignorant that i didn't even care what they were about. I mean i really liked the ones about Brett Favre, he is old and cant decide to either come or go. I honestly believe that he thinks if he quits football he is going to get older, and i hate to say this but Brett football isn't making you look any younger so give it up already. I also really enjoyed the Iraq ones i mean they were so honest and straight to the point unlike the idiot who put us there (BUSH) not trying to call names or point fingers. However i could almost spit on Glenn Beck and his cartoons are so ignorant and just like him some people must like digging there graves till the wind up buried in China. Anyway just telling it how it is.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I felt like some of the cartoon editorials published about Obama may offend some people. The Bret Farve editorials really made me laugh though. (I doubt if Farve is having the same response. lol) I really enjoyed the Labor Day 2010 cartoons and also the leaving Iraq cartoon editorials; they were very amusing yet in a seriously humorous way, quite true.